What has been the best off-season move so far?

[Braggins]

Hawes is far from being a fine backup center. When I watch him play I see a guy who isn't making an NBA roster again after his contract runs out here. He lost his backup center spot last season to Glen Davis and so far this year is sporting a 7.5 PER on 40%/25%/20% shooting numbers. His contract is dead money.

You and I have a fundamental disagreement about his value and potential. He has had down games (SAS, 2nd ATL game) but he also has had some nice games (1st ATL game where he had 8 points on 4-6 shooting, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals; CHI game where he was 5-6 from the field and 3-3 from three).

Look at his last game - he had 5 assists in 20 minutes with no turnovers. He is one of only a handful of centers that can force defensive adjustments on the perimeter and that has the passing skills to capitalize on those adjustments.

Only you could have a positive outlook on Hawes

[yosemiteben]

I choose to give guys more than five games before calling him a useless dead contract, especially when they have career stats that support them being a decent backup option. Hawes isn't like Lance where he only had one or two years of appreciable production. He's been a solid defensive rebounding passing big with weak D for a long time, and just did not fit what LAC has going on. In just what little time I've watched him, I can see him being a terrible fit with the egos over on LAC.

Honestly I feel like he is what everyone wishes Al could be in terms of facilitating ball movement, and it seems like Hawes personifies the direction that we want to go as a team.

[Braggins]

I choose to give guys more than five games before calling him a useless dead contract, especially when they have career stats that support them being a decent backup option. Hawes isn't like Lance where he only had one or two years of appreciable production. He's been a solid defensive rebounding passing big with weak D for a long time.

Honestly I feel like he is what everyone wishes Al could be in terms of facilitating ball movement, and it seems like Hawes personifies the direction that we want to go with as a team.

Eh, he was terrible last season too and his play style is basically awful and doesn't seem like its ever going to translate to consistent production unless he starts knocking down outside shots instead of passing them up to shoot embarrassing floaters that don't hit the rim half the time. The nail in the coffin is his terrible defense. Hes nearly as bad as Al. The only difference is that he gives a little more effort and isn't scared of contact. Id seriously rather have last years version of Maxiell. He at least played under control and wouldn't try to make absurd passes or shot attempts.

[Mystical Apples]

This is a fascinating question for unintended reasons. As I post this Lamb/Hawes are getting 44% of the votes, Lin 25%, Batum 19%, and Kaminsky 0%. In reading the comments people are voting for Lamb/Hawes in spite of Hawes not because of him. Lin and Batum are on expiring deals. Lamb is going to make $7 million. Hawes about $6 million with a player option year 3. The Hornets hold Kaminsky's rights for 5 years and $3 million in 2017 when the cap is $110 million.

Since everyone wants to judge these deals after 8 games here are the 2 man lineups for the above players (minimum 20 minutes). For the record all of the best 2, 3, and 4 man groups include Hawes and/or Kaminsky with Kaminsky the only player on the roster in all of them.

Lin/Lamb have a rating of +3.5 which is almost identical to the team's rating.

With Hawes
Lamb: +7.6
Lin: 0

With Kaminsky
Lin: +27.8
Lamb: +14.1

With Jefferson
Kaminsky: -5.5
Lin: -8.6
Lamb: -13.3

[HornetJail]

I'd have to take the Lamb acquisition, even if it came at the expense of having to watch Spencer Hawes play basketball for the next 3 years. Batum is playing well, but that's an "incomplete" until we actually lock him down to a new contract and/or we can decisively say how Vonleh is doing in Portland.

[yosemiteben]

Eh, he was terrible last season too...

My point was that last season is the only season he has had where he played below a backup C level. It's too early to judge him for this season.

[yosemiteben]

Since everyone wants to judge these deals after 8 games here are the 2 man lineups for the above players (minimum 20 minutes).

I think it's fairly obvious why no one is voting Frank - he has been largely irrelevant so far due to his limited minutes. No one at this point is going to say those 9 MPG we're getting from Frank have been more valuable than the contributions we've gotten from Batum, Lin, or Lamb.

[CatgutStitches]

I fully agree with Ben and dont get all the Hawes hate...I think the problem is that hes basically the anti-Biz and everyone seems to have a love affair with him ; ) Im perfectly fine with him as a backup big on this roster with the way the team is built now. Im assuming him and Frank switch roles at some point then all will be well.

[Mystical Apples]

Since everyone wants to judge these deals after 8 games here are the 2 man lineups for the above players (minimum 20 minutes).

I think it's fairly obvious why no one is voting Frank - he has been largely irrelevant so far due to his limited minutes. No one at this point is going to say those 9 MPG we're getting from Frank have been more valuable than the contributions we've gotten from Batum, Lin, or Lamb.

OK let's operate under the assumption those limited minutes are largely irrelevant and remove them from the equation. Lamb is winning votes in a landslide and in many cases it's cited in spite of Hawes (not you but others). Here's how he's done without them:

Lamb / Al: -13.3
Lamb / Marvin: -2.2
Lamb / Cody: -1.0
Hornets with Lamb sitting: +2.2
Lamb plus any non Hawes or Kam power forward/center: -3.2 to -15.5 vs how the Hornets perform without Lamb.

[Braggins]

Eh, he was terrible last season too...

My point was that last season is the only season he has had where he played below a backup C level. It's too early to judge him for this season.

Maybe, I had high hopes when we initially acquired him because he was decent the last time I saw him.

[ChokeFasncists]

With Kaminsky
Lin: +27.8
Lamb: +14.1

Wow, hope we see a lot of this tonight!

[BlackOutBuzz]

I don't agree with the idea of Hawes bringing down Lamb's value. He's been underwhelming, but thankfully he's not Lance either. His contract isn't an albatross, pretty fair for a rotation big (and yes I'm aware he hasn't played like he belongs in the rotation, yet). In the end we'll have acquired a pair of contributors for a guy who was benched here.

Honestly all the veteran acquisitions look pretty good. Acquiring Batum for Vonleh and Henderson in itself is a very good get, but my concern has always been the contract status. We tried to lock down our wing trio this offseason, but a Batum extension didn't materialize between the MKG and Lamb ones. Honestly can't blame him though, veteran extensions may not be capped by rookie cap rules, but they can only be a slight raise over their current deal if the team is over the cap (which we are).

And of course Lin, probably the best value East of West (David West, that is. Bad pun) but he hasn't had the impact of Batum or Lamb, yet.

I wanna say Batum is the best acquisition as he's probably our best player, and I do believe we'll bring him back after this season, but the uncertainty beyond this year makes me go back to Lamb and Hawes. I mean, it was Lance **** Stephenson.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk